CBI lacks basic skills to probe, says Delhi court

Irked with the way CBI handled the probe in the coal block allocation scam case, a Delhi court on Tuesday said the agency’s officers lacked “basic skills of investigation” and ordered its director, Ranjit Sinha, and all concerned DIGs to personally look into the matter, failing which they would be held “responsible”.

Irked with the way CBI handled the probe in the coal block allocation scam case, a Delhi court on Tuesday said the agency’s officers lacked “basic skills of investigation” and ordered its director, Ranjit Sinha, and all concerned DIGs to personally look into the matter, failing which they would be held “responsible”.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also issued show- cause notices to CBI inspector Rajbir Singh, investigating officer in a case in which a closure report was filed against Vikash Metals and Power Ltd, and its superintendent of police Nirbhay Kumar to explain the lacunae in their probe in the case.

“Their explanation will certainly enable this court to know as to whether these two officers lack basic skills of investigation which needs to be honed up or it was a deliberate act on their part,” the court said.

The court also observed that the agency was withholding documents from it for reasons best known to them and even the statement of witnesses, recorded during the probe into the case, was not placed before it.

The court, in its order, noted that, “It was also found that during the course of investigation, IO also recorded statements of a number of persons under section 161 CrPC, such as that of Screening Committee members or number of other officers/ officials of Ministry of Coal and other departments but again for reasons best known to the IO he did not care to file them on record.”